The Rice running backs are quickly becoming known as a stable of Owls.

While there’s a depth chart list, Rice running backs coach Anthony Steward looks at it his four rushers as more of a rotation — a rotation of pretty good ball handlers that are young and, Steward said, still have a lot more to show Rice fans.

In Week 1 against Wagner, redshirt freshman Austin Walter led the backs in carries. In Week 2 at Texas, redshirt freshman Sam Stewart dove, rolled and surprised in his first 100-yard rushing game. Veteran Darik Dillard stayed consistent, despite fumbling the ball on his 11th and final carry against Texas, his first fumble of his Rice career. Junior Jowan Davis suffered an ankle sprain against Wagner and sat out against Texas. He returned to practice this week and should be the starter Saturday against North Texas.

“They’re doing pretty well right now,” Steward said. “They’re playing pretty good football. We’re still young. There’s still some things as their coach that I see that you probably don’t see as a spectator that I know we have to get better at, like pass blocking and little things like that.

“We just have to keep getting a little better every week. We still haven’t shown how good we can be, which is a good thing.

“It’s encouraging, but it’s also a process just to keep those guys working hard every day and not thinking that we are better than we really are, because there’s still a lot of holes in what we’re doing.”